


The Hunt

by SacredPanda



Series: The Hunt [1]
Category: Exalted, Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss
Genre: Clones, Cult, Drug Use, F/M, God Complex, Lunar Exalted, M/M, Rifts - Freeform, Shapeshifting, Smut, celestial cocaine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 22:50:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SacredPanda/pseuds/SacredPanda
Summary: After over 400 years on a self-imposed Exile in the Wyld Roxil is ready to return home, to his temple. A Rift has other plans for him, dropping him in a new universe. He'll need to find some way to entertain himself.





	The Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if my English and grammar isn't great, it isn't my first language but I'm trying. Anyway this is a reposting of something I recently deleted to fill in some gaps and add some things. So, if you're not familiar with the world of the RPG Exalted Roxil is a Lunar Exalt created and played by a friend of mine in a campaign she participated in. Lunars are shapeshifters but unlike other types they need to learn shapes before they can use them, most of the time this is done through a ritual hunt which ends in consuming the Heart's Blood of the target, they can learn other ways of concluding the hunt however. The Wyld is a place of chaos where the land and creatures within it change, mutate, and otherwise make very little sense. It's generally considered a bad place where bad things happen. Lunars are protected from the warping effects of the Wyld by their Moonsilver tattoos, unfortunately particularly dumb Lunars like Roxil (BTW he has the dumb) might do something silly like expel their tattoos for several years just to see what it's like. During that time he may have also gone just a little insane and that combined with the fact that thousands of mortals have been worshipping him for a few hundred years gave him just a little (a lot) of a god complex. 
> 
> So anyway, Roxil falls through a Rift and ends up in Coruscant. It's his goal to make some new friends and the Nulls happen to seem like pretty good candidates.

It had been over 400 years since Roxil had been in Creation. Over 200 years since he had interacted with more than a single human, 20 years since he had interacted with any other person or even since he had been a person. He had no idea what had become of his companions since then. Fading Comet had killed Dunwe, but after that Roxil had run off into the wilderness in the haze of his Limit Break. He had been ashamed of himself, choosing an exile in the Wyld to collect his thoughts. That exile had become 400 years of hunting Raksha and Wyld tainted creatures. Today however, he finally responded to the prayers of his people. He needed to stop by his mentor's village first, he left a friend there. Someone he promised he would take to Creation when he was ready to go back. The man wore different armor now, forged by the villagers to help him fit in. 

The 5 foot tall cat crossed over the border into Creation, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Without hesitation he transitioned to his War Form - the 122 foot human/cat hybrid - stretching his humanoid arms and legs having grown unfamiliar with the feel of them. For 6 days and nights he barely rested, running at full speed to reach his southern-most village. He passed through the gates and kept running straight to the stairs of the temple where the people had carved out a statue of him. There was nothing that could be more exciting to him than seeing his people again for the first time in centuries. Some had noticed his return and he shifted to his true human shape -and put on his pants- to greet them, but didn't get the chance.

He noticed the powerful scent of citrus first. It was followed by a near blinding light and a wave of heat. When Roxil opened his eyes he was more than a little confused. He was sure he was back in Creation, in his great Eastern Temple, he should have been surrounded by impossibly large trees, not equally impossible buildings and flying metal creatures. Was it possible he was still in the Wyld? No, he was sure he had made it to Cherochybi.  
"A rift," His companion said quietly. "Just like the one that brought me to Creation... but I know this place." “Excuse me, sir.” He heard a man shout. Roxil leaned over a railing to look down, he was on a platform that must have been at least a thousand meters up. There were so many lights in so many colors, they made his eyes hurt. Was it possible he ended up on the Blessed Isle? He had never been there, if anyone dedicated the resources to such ridiculous structures it would be the Immaculate Order … or the Solars. Some of the things the Solars created in the First Age could seem miraculous. “Excuse me, sir!” The man shouted louder, when Roxil turned the human was reaching out to grab his shoulder. “This area is off-limits. GAR personnel only. We’ve called CSF, you’ll be placed under temporary arrest.”  
“What's a CSF? Wait, arrest?” He was already familiar with the language, but not the setting. "Roxil, you need to go. I can't vouch for you because I don't exist. Don't worry, I'll find you." The man watched as Roxil jumped off the platform and stayed in free fall for nearly a full minute. The metal creatures continued to speed through the air generating an irritating whining sound but he couldn’t get a clear look at them without slowing down. Once he had dropped so far the platform was out of sight he shifted, the Stryx was the ideal shape to use, natural flight with a wingspan of fifteen feet. He let his feathers catch the wind so he could glide rather than flying between the enormous buildings to travel several more levels down. It was a while before he saw a space big enough to land on, he had to shift back to his human shape and tumble a bit but he made it.  
The door opened easily, he made his way through a dimly lit hallway to what seemed to be a restaurant. Good, he was hungry, he would have eaten before leaving the Wyld if he had known he wasn’t going home. He approached the counter but the man pointed to a sign.  
“Can’t you read?” It said no shirt, no shoes, no service. Roxil had neither a shirt or shoes.  
“Of course, who doesn’t know how to read?” He couldn’t. “I just want a piece of meat and I’ll move on.” He opened his small bag and pulled out a little woven pouch. He only had one small piece of paper Jade, he hadn’t bothered with money since he Exalted. “How much will this get me?”  
“That’ll buy you exactly nothing. What is that?”  
“Jade, you don’t take Jade scrip? I can’t trade my silver…”  
“Trade? You need credits if you want to buy something, you got none you get none, that’s how it works. Now get your dirty feet out of here.” The man pointed to the door. It was clear he wasn’t willing to discuss further.  
On the way out Roxil passed a table with several armored men wearing helmets, they weren’t watching the basket of bread rolls on their table. Roxil snagged a few discretely and was about to slide them in his bag when one of the men suddenly turned and grabbed his wrist. The human seemed surprised when Roxil easily broke his hold, but he did put all but one of the rolls back. The man took off his helmet, he was quite attractive but seemed very young, and very familiar. Two of the others also took their helmets off, they were identical, nearly anyway.  
“It’s not polite to steal, you know.”  
“Whatever I have to do to survive. You stop thinking about it when it’s all you can do. Can you point me to the nearest Wyld border? I just want to go home.”  
He heard Jatne mention the rift, but he still wasn't entirely sure what that really meant. “Wild? This is Galactic City, _burc’ya_ , there hasn’t been any wild here in a long time. You plan to pay for that?”  
“ _Burc’ya_ , friend? Since we’re friends, what do you mean no Wyld here?”  
“You…” The man was clearly shocked by something. “You’re Mando?”  
“Yes!” Roxil didn’t enjoy lying, but he needed information. “Yes, Mando that’s me. Sorry, _burc’ya_ I haven’t eaten in days and I’m starving. Listen, I don’t have enough money to be of value to you, but if I can just eat I’ll be on my way.”  
“ _Buir_!” One of the man shouted, he was grinning. An old man ambled over dragging one leg. “ _Buir_ , is this the guy a friend of yours? Don’t see many Mando’ade around here,” A woman brought over a tray piled with food. The young man put one of the plates in front of Roxil, his smile was brilliant. “ _Epar_ ”  
“Never seen this man in my life,” The older human said before chuckling. “My boys sharing their _skraan_ , you must be something.”  
“What kind of alien are you anyway?” One of the still-helmeted men leaned to check out Roxil’s tail, but he was pointing at the feline ears. “Never seen anything like you,”  
“Are those tattoos a religious thing?” Another asked. The old man almost seemed surprised that the men didn’t know what he was.  
“Alien? I thought everyone knew of the anathema with Moonsilver tattoos… I’m a Lunar, one of the Celestial Exalts. Woneyii Roxil, you may have heard of me by the name Catman?”  
“Never heard of a Catman, or Lunars and Celestial Exalts. What planet are you from?”  
“Planet?” He pulled a small leather pouch from his bag and inhaled some kind of powder from it. He closed his eyes and wobbled on his feet for a moment then pulled a chair over. When he opened his eyes his expression changed from relaxed to terrified. “There’s no essence? You’ve never heard of the Celestials… I’m not in Creation … am I?”  
“I told you, this is Galactic City.”  
“Please tell me you know of the Immaculate Order, the Dragon Blooded? Can you give me the name of the local city god?”  
“No, no, and I’m pretty sure gods aren’t real and if they are I’ve sure never seen one.”  
“Oh Luna…” Roxil leaned over resting his forehead against the table. “You wouldn’t be in need of an excellent hunter, would you?” He asked without lifting his head, he sounded as though he was crying, by the way his body shook he probably was. “I’ve suddenly found myself with no home and no family. I can fight, I can spy, I can go where no one else can. I can do anything you need…”  
“We can fight and spy just fine on our own thanks.” It was another of the men wearing a helmet. Roxil lifted his head, the three others removed their helmets and Roxil was truly stunned. He had seen triplets once … that had been a _fun_ night, he had never seen this many.  
“I _know_ , but not like I can, not if there are no Exalts here. The Dragon Blooded called us Anathema, Tricksters, and the Frenzied.” He stood and shifted to his War Form, he had to bend to fit in the room standing a little over twelve and half feet tall. The man standing at the bar let out a small whimpering sound, the amalgamation of man and cat was generally very frightening for mortals. The clones were shocked, but none of them moved. Roxil shifted again, becoming a human much like his original shape but smaller, female, and absent of tattoos. He shifted a third time becoming a strange small rodent before returning to his human shape. “I have many others, I can speak with most creatures, I can borrow shapes I don’t know. I promise you’ll have use of me if I can just ask for meals and shelter until I find a place to belong.”


End file.
